End of an Era
by ShullBitter
Summary: A speculative, Lina-centric look at a possible future. Darker.
1. Default Chapter

End of an Era, Part 1

* * *

Lina felt guilt. It definitely wasn't over the man laying in pieces before her. After all, he was the trigger for everything.

Lina was not sure what his motivations had been, if he had simply been paid, or perhaps was an innkeeper or merchant whose property she had destroyed on the course of her adventures. She sure as hell couldn't remember ever meeting him previously. She would never forget him now, though.

Whatever his motivations had been, he had taken it upon himself to assassinate the sorcery genius Lina Inverse. He obviously knew something about her, choosing not open combat but to attack where she was truly weak—her stomach. The poison was a very nasty one, and if Lina had had even the slightest clue about it's presence there would have been no way that in a moment of fondness and generosity she would have given that innocent looking piece of meat to Gourry.

He began showing symptoms by the end of the meal. By the end of the day, it was evident that he would not recover. There was no magic cure or worldly antidote that could contain the venomous spread. No remedy could even effectively ease his suffering. And suffer he did as the poison worked it's way through his well-toned swordsman's body. The muscles that kept him alive and fighting in battle now kept him alive and in agony, slowing a poison that could not be stopped.

The shrine maiden and doctor who attended to him only told Lina about his inescapable, grim prognosis, but despite the attempt at secrecy, it was obvious that Gourry knew it too. Seeing no way she could halt the poison or even numb the pain, Lina tried to hide from feelings of uselessness by avenging Gourry. The man who poisoned her companion was just as helpless as Gourry was from the poison, he was unable to stand against an outraged master sorceress.

But just as the medicines failed Gourry, killing the man brought Lina not even the slightest ghost of relief. All that she was left with was guilt. Irrational guilt because she indirectly had been the one who trapped Gourry in such a fate, and the all too rational guilt of selfishly allowing cowardice to pull her from his side.

She didn't want to look at the shell of what her pillar, her rock, her dearest friend had been. She didn't want to helplessly watch from the sidelines as he wasted away. But most of all, she didn't want to face that her future would most definitely be without him. Lina Inverse was no coward, but the cold reality that Gourry was on the verge of being forever rendered out of her grasp gave her a fearful chill worse then any of the seemingly hopeless battles of her past had ever come close to giving her.

Gourry did not have much time left. Lina idly considered the possibility that he had passed on while she was out avenging him. In many ways, that would be easier for her, but would she be able to live with herself knowing that she had denied both of them the closure of their precious few last moments in the same world? No, it would be too cruel, too much guilt for a person to carry.

She rushed back to the temple that he lay dying in, dreading that she would only find a vacant room being cleaned in preparation for it's next unlucky inhabitant.

The moment she opened the room's door she knew he still lived. His breathing, forced and irregular, was amplified in volume by her mind. The moment she entered, he smiled a weak but genuine smile and rasped out one word, her name. Lina was amazed at how quickly he identified her with such glassy eyes.

Lina sat next to his bed and looked at him. His hair was dulled and plastered to his face with sweat, looking just as lifeless as the rest of him. His skin was too pale and looked as though it had been stretched into a too taunt state over his bones. She wondered if the slight green tinge was from the lighting, her imagination, or really there. And last were his white lips tugged into that painful looking smile.

Lina's own smile in reply was forced. She spoke in quiet tones. "Its handled, Gourry. I found the guy and made him pay. He'll never be able to do anything again, I made sure of that. So now, all we need to do is get you better. I've been thinking about where we should go to next." Lina watched his eyes come in and out of focus, straining to stay trained on her face.

"Lina," he wracked out. She was about to tell him not to speak, to conserve his strength, but he slightly moved a hand in an attempt at a gesture for her to let him continue. And continue he did, laboriously. "I always fall asleep when you talk about serious stuff. Please don't be mad... if I fall asleep again."

Lina softened her voice further. "Of course I won't be mad at you, you big silly idiot. Feel free to fall asleep now, I'll make you make it up to me later."

But it was too late. He already had.


	2. Conclusion

End of an Era, Part 2

* * *

Lina woke up from that same damn dream again. A set of entirely too clear memories, though it had happened hundreds of years ago, she still recalled every detail too vividly. And not even all of the minutes in a sorceress's extended lifespan would be enough time to heal all wounds.

She heard a sharp series of knocks on her apartment door, and realized what it was that pulled her from her dreams. She glanced at the glowing clock on her bedside, finding it to be well past midnight. She waited, hoping the knocks would stop, but they did not. Snarling, she threw on her robe, tangling in an inside out sleeve, and stormed to the door. She threw it open and gasped when she saw who it was.

Standing there, looking exactly the same age as he had the last time she had seen him, and wearing the same outfit as he always had... It stood out glaringly against the modern backdrop.

"Xelloss," Lina started, "What the hell are you doing here, and at this time of night?"

He smiled the same way he always had, and pushed past her into her apartment. "My, Lina, you've changed over the years."

It was true, but Lina felt no shame about aging. She closed the door behind him and there was a pregnant silence, her waiting for him to state his business.

"What?" he asked innocently. "Is there anything so wrong about dropping in on an old friend?" He started to make himself at home in her favorite chair, so she quickly shooed him over to the couch.

"You've never 'just dropped in' before, so don't give me that bullshit."

He raised his palms in a gesture of innocence. "Really, just thought it would be nice to catch up with another of the last mementos from the old days."

"Then where the hell have you been?" she asked.

Lina had been the last great sorceress that the world had known. It was possible that the lifting of the Mazoku barrier that allowed the area she was from to develop so magically falling and allowing the magic to disperse was the cause of this. But that didn't matter to Lina, who was as far as she knew then only real magic using human left alive. The rest had died leaving only weaker in magic heirs to a world that was rapidly developing more and more technologies, abandoning fireballs in favor of the guns and bombs that the fox man, what was his name, Jillas, was so fond of. It had also been so long since Lina had encountered a non-human sentient creature. It seemed like they too had slipped through the cracks of time into the sea of chaos, just like sorcery.

The Mazoku had been inactive for so long that Lina thought all of them were gone too, including the one standing in front of her.

Xelloss shrugged. It was clear that he was not going to answer the question, or any others that she had for him. She almost decided to interrupt him to deny him the pleasure of saying his favorite phrase, but decided that it had been enough years that hearing something so familiar might be nice.

"That is a secret."

"So, you really are the last Mazoku." She knew he wouldn't answer it as a question, so she phrased it as a statement of fact as to encourage him to talk.

"No, though there aren't too many of us left at all. But there really haven't been since you went through that little phase a while back, you know that as well as I do." Bingo, she got him talking.

But rather then jump in and press him for more, she had to peer through foggy old memories to recall what he was referring to. It took her a moment, but then she remembered. After the death of—after his death, Lina had gone on a little rampage of sorts. She tried to hide from emotions by truly going after evil. Amelia had offered many condolences, and then had been a major encouraging force for Lina's new role as an 'ally of justice.' In those days, she had slain many evil men and Mazoku alike.

Lina shrugged.

"What have you been up to through the years, Lina-san? I do believe the last time I checked in with you was during that very phase."

Lina couldn't remember meeting Xelloss in those days, but she didn't remember much from them. "I got bored with the hero act once it wore thin. Went back to the treasure-hunting and power-collecting game." Lina neglected to add that it just hadn't been the same, and though she amassed money and power at an astounding rate, it just didn't have the same appeal as it did in the days with—

Xelloss nodded. "You and everyone, you always were my favorite group of humans." His tone was very conversational.

"What do you mean? You're not even capable of having fondness for anyone else."

He smiled, and earnestly said, "I guess you're right." There was a pause where he should have said something, to add or clarify or do anything, but instead there was only an irritating silence.

"How long ago was it?" Lina asked. She had no idea what the 'it' in question was.

"A long time," was his only response, just as vague as her question had been. Lina wondered if he had an idea of what she should have been asking, or had only given that answer as it would be adequate for almost anything she could have asked.

There was another pause.

"The last of the Seyruun line died today," he said in that oh-so-casual tone.

Lina guiltily thought back to the last time she had checked in with that old family. No longer nobility in this new world, she used to make a point to keep track of them, in memory of her old friends from whom all of the modern Seyruuns sprang. Somewhere along the stream of time, she had checked in less and less, finally ceasing.

"That's too bad." Lina had made too many friends and acquaintances throughout her impressively long life, and had outlived all of them. Though she felt regret that the family was forever gone, she found it hard to feel grief for the individual member who she had never met. "Did you ever find out what happened to Filia? I used to keep in contact with her, long ago, but then she just kind of vanished."

Xelloss smiled, and for a moment it was not his normal smile. "Do you really think she'd be more likely to keep in touch with me then you?"

Lina didn't know if she should be disturbed by the glimmer of what she saw, or by his deliberate dodge of the question's intent. But then again, even old and out of practice, she was still Lina Inverse, who had once been such a great legend that every child knew her name. She bit back a yawn—being so timeless had taken much of her vigor, especially so late at night. "Chatting is nice and all, but what's your real reason for being here? What do you want?"

Xelloss took her old, worn hand in his own, still youthful and smooth. He smiled at her. "Its late, you should get to bed." Then he stood. "It was nice catching up with you."

"We're not going to catch up again, are we?" It wasn't really a question.

He smiled and shook his head. "No."

Lina yawned again. "You're right, it is late. Long past time I should have been asleep."

He gave a final wave and disappeared.

Lina stood and walked back into her bedroom. Her most treasured and re-played memories were not any of the recent ones, but the ones from her youth so long ago. She recalled them one more time, and went to bed.

* * *

And here we have the conclusion. This storyhas a couple of things I'm not so sure about-- like the pacing and if its organized enough to be easily followed, and if its too cliche or what-not, or too melodramatic. I'm sure there's more wrong with it then that, but those are the things that are most glaring to me. Opinions on those flaws, and pointing out any that I've overlooked would be MUCH appreciated.

As for Lina living so long, its been stated in canon that sorcerers have longer life-spans (200 years-ish), and I'm taking the liberty of assuming Lina would live longer then that on account of her being THE most powerful, and calling the Lord of Nightmares into her body, and all that other great stuff. So, um, yeah. I hope this fic didn't break your brain.


End file.
